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Vrykul
The vrykul (pronounced vrai-koul) are a race of Norse-themed half-giant warriors native to the Howling Fjord located in southeastern Northrend. It is said that in ancient times the vrykul inhabited the land, founding a vast and prosperous civilization. Then one day, without warning or explanation, the vrykul vanished, leaving behind only deserted villages and abandoned temples. Due to the enroachment of the Alliance settlement of Valgarde on their lands, the''' vrykul''' have recently returned. Led by King Ymiron, these formidable warriors have begun attacking Horde and Alliance settlements from the fortress of Utgarde Keep, not far from Valgarde. The vrykul's motives and their whereabouts for the past several thousand years remain a mystery, though they have recently become allied with the Lich King. The vrykul are dark and vampiric in nature, and are served by worgs and a similarly mysterious race of proto-dragons. They practice a runic magic that even the most experienced wizards find unfamiliar. For some reason they frown on manual labor, thinking it lowly. The vrykul will apparently tie into the Titan creation myth that will unfold as events of the expansion take place, and in a recent interview with lead game designer Jeffrey Kaplan it was revealed that the vrykul are almost like the progenitors of the human race. They were part of the Titan's early plans for creating the original race that ultimately became humans, but they have turned slightly evil. Perhaps much like the stony troggs that evolved from the earthen. The quest states that vrykul children born in a certain time after their gods "abandoned" them were "weak and ugly". King Ymiron ordered all those children to be killed, but events observed in the preceding quest hint that not all parents obeyed this order and instead hid their children, to grow up far away from Northrend. Appearance Vrykul appear as very large and muscular humans. Models found in the WotLK beta seem to indicate that some Vrykul have a more stony, earthen-like appearance. Clans *Dragonflayer Clan *Skadir Clan *Winterskorn Clan Inspiration The vrykul seem to be inspired by the Einherjar (ine-her-yar, "lone ravagers/army of one") of Norse mythology who were the spirits of warriors who died glorious deaths in battle and were resurrected to serve the gods at the time of Ragnarök. Unlike the Einherjar however, the vrykul serve an evil purpose. The name vrykul is similar to the name Vrykyl, who are a group of undead knights from the trilogy of books. Their name is an elven word meaning "Eater of the Dead". In turn, their proto-humanoid features (such as their sloped foreheads) may be inspired by the Wendol of the novel . Interestingly, in the book, the Wendol were implied to be a relict tribe of neanderthals, which early models of vrykul resembled, whereas in the film version, , the Wendol appeared identical to modern man, much like the more recent Vrykul models. In addition, the vrykul may have ties to the Warhammer universe's Norscans, a nomadic and violent race of humans enthralled to the Chaos gods. The Warcraft series is believed to be originally inspired, in part, by the Warhammer games. Speculation Though we don't know for sure, it is very likely that the names King Ymiron mentions are in fact the names of the gods the Vrykul rever. When fighting the leader of the Dragonflayer Clan he calls upon these to bestow him with power and grant him additional strength. According to this the gods would be as following: * Bjorn of the black storm. * Haldor of the rocky cliffs. * Ranulf of the screaming beast. * Tor of the brutal siege. Gallery Image:Ss5-hires.jpg|Male vrykul concept art Image:Femalevrykul.jpg|Female vrykul concept art Image:Vrykul_Warrior.JPG|Older model Image:WWI_Utgarde_Keep_Mobs.jpg|Vrykul fighting a Dwarf Warrior in Utgarde Keep Category:Northrend Category:Creatures Category:Giants Category:Vrykul Category:Half-breeds